Articles by
Craig Morris
Will Norway ban gas & diesel cars by 2025?
By
Craig Morris
There is no intention to outright ban non-electric vehicles, however they will become very unfavorably taxed, making them a much less interesting alternative than electric cars.
German coal is worthless
By
Craig Morris
Vattenfall has failed to find a buyer for its coal assets in Germany. The focus is now on alternative models, such as a fund to protect workers.
German retail power rate stable as share of renewables increases
By
Craig Morris
For the past four years, the average retail power rate in Germany has been stable, even though the share of renewable electricity rose from nearly 25 percent to 32.5 percent.
Did French officials downplay nuclear incident? Is French media now?
By
Craig Morris
The French press should start asking tough questions and stop making this a “he said, she said” issue between allegedly anti-nuclear Germans and the French. Don’t do it for the Germans; the French themselves deserve better than reliance on their German neighbors for investigative journalism.
Can utilities be trusted with the energy transition?
By
Craig Morris
Utilities are building giant wind and solar projects everywhere, but largely in competitor territory, not their own. And they see community projects built by citizens as a threat within their own turf. Corporate utilities don’t want their own investments in renewables competing with their existing conventional energy assets, and they don’t want yours either.
2015 was second biggest year ever for wind installations in Germany
By
Craig Morris
The good news is that just over 3.5 gigawatts was installed, putting 2015 in second position behind the roughly 4.4 gigawatts of 2014 and ahead of the previous record year of 2002 at 3.2 gigawatts.
1,000 km of solar roads in France?
By
Craig Morris
It’s enough to make you despair: French Energy Minister Ségolène Royal has announced the construction of 1,000 kilometers of solar panels, which would be fine if she didn’t plan to pave roads with them.
Returns from offshore wind: too high?
By
Craig Morris
In its fifth year of operation, Germany’s first offshore wind farm, Alpha Ventus, once again surpassed expectations. The first people (besides me) now say that feed-in tariffs for offshore wind are too high, but they are calling for a switch to auctions, not lower feed-in tariffs.
Denmark blows past old wind record
By
Craig Morris
2015 was another record year for wind power in Denmark, where turbines generated 42 percent of demand, topping the old record of 39 percent from the previous year. No other country has such a large share of wind power.
2015: Germany’s record wind year
By
Craig Morris
Last year, wind power production in Germany increased by around 50 percent – and the country already had the third largest fleet of wind turbines worldwide.
How big can community wind farms be?
By
Craig Morris
The EU created a set-aside for small projects. Called the de minimus rule, it allows projects smaller than six megawatts to go forwards without having to take part in auctions. In addition, wind farms that consist of no more than six turbines can also be built without having to take part in auctions.
Can Germany reach its renewables target for the energy sector for 2020?
By
Craig Morris
In terms of final energy, the share of renewables grew from 11.9 percent in 2011 to 15.3 percent in 2015, an increase of 3.4 percentage points over five years. At that rate, Germany would overshoot its 2020 target to reach 18.7 percent renewables.
